Friday, July 11, 2008

Ceaser jumps in the mayor's race

This is a day or two old, but Ceasar (sic) Mitchell is running for mayor. He's a decent councilman, but I think he'll get lost in the pack. There are simply too many dynamic figures sucking up oxygen.

My thoughts on the race at present, subject to change: right now I think Lisa Borders has the inside position, and Kasim Reed will have the best machine. Mary Norwood could do surprisingly well - she is particularly attentive to the white middle class in-town demographic. If white females go for Norwood instead of Borders, Kasim wins. The business community will gravitate to Borders, and she will do well with the African American population. Kasim will do well with blacks, too, but will get more of the local activist Democratic Party types because of his work in the legislature. Kasim will do well with the business community, too, though. I don't think Clark Howard will run, but I have no idea what would happen if he did.

A note on my breakdown: obviously issues will be important, but race has been and will always be an important part of Atlanta politics. Atlanta is a very segregated city, both based on race and income, although that is changing a little bit. Issues differ greatly depending on where you live and how much you make, and these divisions often overlap with race. Aside from these observations, electoral politics is often about demographics - race, income, marital status, sexual orientation, etc. So to discuss the mayoral race, I'll need to bring these up.

I'll have another post where I tackle what issues I think will be important. I have not made up my mind at this point, and don't plan on making up my mind for quite some time.